Can Masdeu
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Can Masdeu () is a
squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
social centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...
, residence and community garden in the
Collserola The Serra de Collserola (), or simply Collserola, is a mountain range between the rivers Besòs and Llobregat. It is part of the Catalan Coastal Range. These mountains separate Barcelona from the Vallès plain and their tallest peak is the Tib ...
Park on the outskirts of
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. The building, owned by Sant Pau hospital, was occupied by international activists in 2001 after being abandoned for roughly 53 years. On most Sundays from late September to early June, there is an open house and guided tour in which residents explain community living, consensus-based decision-making, ecological gardening and living, and the functioning of the social center. There is a collective meal and around 100 people come up to participate in free activities related to ecology, activism, and self-sufficiency.


The name ''Can Masdeu''

Can means "property of" and "Masdeu" comes from the Masdeu family who once inhabited the farmhouse at the center of the valley. Thus, ''Can Masdeu'' can refer to any of the following: * the
masia A masia in Catalan (or es, masía and an, pardina) is a type of rural construction common to the east of Spain: Catalonia, Valencian Community, Aragon, Languedoc and Provence (in the south of France). The estate in which the masia is located is ...
- a traditional Iberian patriarchal mansion or plantation house * the valley, or the community gardens which inhabit it * the community of squatters * the social center or the ecological project associated with it. * the nunnery or leper hospital which once inhabited the masia and the valley.


Grounds, location, and early history

The grounds governed by the squat include almost a hectare of land in use as gardens, an abandoned nunnery, and hospital facility, and about of mostly hilly forests. The building spans four floors and is draped over the side of a hill. It includes 24 different rooms of various sizes including a large hall. Can Masdeu is located up the hill from the Canyelles L3 Metro station in Barcelona. There is a sign for it before the walk up a dirt road to the site. The building was built on an ancient Roman site and was surrounded by
vineyards A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...
before the city expanded into Nou Barris. Of the existing structure, first the temple (
masia A masia in Catalan (or es, masía and an, pardina) is a type of rural construction common to the east of Spain: Catalonia, Valencian Community, Aragon, Languedoc and Provence (in the south of France). The estate in which the masia is located is ...
) was completed in the 17th century. In the early 20th century the living units, common space, and kitchen were added. After functioning as a nunnery for some years, the facility was converted into a
leper Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...
hospital. It was ultimately shuttered and abandoned in 1948. Fear of leprosy may have been a factor in this large facility being left vacant for over half a century.


Occupation and legal status

An international group of activists spent over a year searching in Barcelona for the best location to occupy and in December 2001 they moved onto the abandoned hospital. The aim was to hold a conference to raise awareness around
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
. Can Masdeu became famous in April 2002, when over 100 national police came to evict 11 squatters. Using
passive resistance Nonviolent resistance (NVR), or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, ...
over three days the squatters were able to hold off the police's efforts at forced removal. The squatters used a number of techniques to retain control of the space including, significantly, locking themselves to various precarious perches outside the building. This created a situation in which the police risked serious injury to themselves or to squatters in attempting to remove them. Some dangling occupiers locked themselves to the building, others balanced on a long seesaw, from which no single occupant could be removed without dropping the other. Many were suspended outside the building on frames and even a bathtub was used. The police changed their initial strategy of forced removal with one of waiting for the squatters to get thirsty and hungry and come down. They waited for three days with growing local support and media attention. Hundreds of spectators came to see the occupation, many of them chanted slogans, and stopped traffic on the local highway. A Dutch solidarity organization organized an occupation of the Spanish Embassy in the Netherlands. After three days, the Barcelona judge overseeing the case ordered the police to withdraw. The judge's ruling specified that human rights and safety are more important than property rights. There have been both civil and criminal cases brought against the occupants of Can Masdeu since 2002. Most of these cases have been lost by the community, but it continues to occupy the site, in part because the hospital that owns the facility does not have the financial capacity to renovate the structure. Further complicating the hospital's plans to provide a suitable reason for improving the Can Masdeu site is the fact that immediately next to it there is another larger abandoned institutional building, which could more easily be used than the more dilapidated older facility.


Local relations

Relations with the surrounding local population have been a focus of the efforts of the residents of Can Masdeu. Immediately after the occupation, the community encouraged local gardeners to come plant on their gardens on the grounds. About a dozen people at first, mostly older women responded to the offer and began planting mostly produce and some flowers. The community hosts monthly or bi-monthly potlucks with local gardeners and there are regular meetings to manage the affairs of the garden. In 2006 a large second terrace of gardens was recovered from the surrounding bushlands and additional local gardens were planted. There are three tiers of gardens, the lowest in the new local gardens, the middle tier is the production garden for the community and the top tier is the original local gardens. These neighbors initially came from the Nou Barris district, but increasingly locals involved with these community gardens who move to nearby locations continue to come to this site and maintain their plots.


Social centre activities

For most Sundays from late September to early June, there are public workshops offered in the social centre, the PIC, or ''Punt d'Interracció de Collserola''. These workshops and presentations cover a variety of topics including: * environmental issues *
permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principle ...
and
organic farming Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...
* communities movement * political resistance * independent film presentations * music, dancing, and cultural expression * walking tours of the community grounds and building An organic vegetarian meal served for around 5 euros.as of spring 2017, the stated policy was that people can also have for free or for exchange, and the suggested donation is from 4,50 to 5,50 depending on whether some or all of the ingredients are organic, the meal is more elaborate, etc. from a Can Masdeu internal document. The Social Centre and the 'Rurbar', a cafe serving local and organic meals and drinks, is open most Sundays from noon until evening. Activities are listed on the website, on the Facebook page, and in th
Infousurpa
newsletter.


Renovations and functions

A substantial renovation was necessary to make the space livable. Squatters cleared out rooms and repaired them and moved on to the adjacent space for a period of over 3 years. Residents enjoy low energy, low impact lifestyle with few low power electrical fixtures and a couple of woodstoves for the sprawling complex. The community runs a bike shop and repair clinic, bakes bread for itself and local customers, provides space to the local high school for meetings and performances, and it also hosts meetings of progressive and resistance groups.


Current status

, 24 adults and 5 children live in and share the house. Community participation includes bi-weekly meetings, organic gardening, housework, and two collective meals per day, and each member contributes 100 euros/month to general costs. Many members work outside of the house, though there are cottage industries such as beer, floor chairs, herbal remedies, or organic catering. The working languages of the house are
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
and
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
, but as it is an international group,
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
,
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
, French,
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
, and Esperanto are also spoken. The community hosts some guests who are either friends of the community or involved in service projects or movements that the community supports. The community receives far more requests to host people than it has the capacity to provide. Unlike most squats and even intentional communities, Can Masdeu has quite low turn-over, with around one person leaving per year from 2013-2018.


See also

*
Consensus decision-making Consensus decision-making or consensus process (often abbreviated to ''consensus'') are group decision-making processes in which participants develop and decide on proposals with the aim, or requirement, of acceptance by all. The focus on e ...
*
De-growth Degrowth (french: décroissance) is a term used for both a political, economic, and social movement as well as a set of theories that critique the paradigm of economic growth. It can be described as an extensive framework that is based on cr ...
* Direct Action *
Ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...
*
Environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...
*
Permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principle ...
* Social movement * Squatting


References


External links

*
Can Masdeu: Rise of the Rurbano revolution
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Barcelona Squats in Spain Community gardening in Spain